FCC Chairman outlines plan to protect broadband customers’ privacy

Consumers have right to control providers use of personal data, says Tom Wheeler

Contact:.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), Consumer Action, 202-544-3088

March 10, 2016—Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler laid out a consumer-centric plan to give consumers control over how Internet service providers (ISPs) use, protect and share customer information.

The Commission will consider the proposal at its March 31 meeting. Chairman Wheeler outlined the plan in a fact sheet detailing the ways he would give broadband consumers increased choice, transparency and security with respect to their personal information and other data. If adopted by the Commission, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be published in the Federal Register seeking public comment on the plan. The FCC hopes to solicit additional ideas for giving consumers control over how their online data is used by ISPs and the third parties the service providers do business with.

The following can be attributed to Linda Sherry, director of national priorities at Consumer Action:

“Consumer Action applauds Chairman Wheeler for his willingness to ensure that consumers who sign up for broadband don’t have to sign away their rights to privacy. Internet service providers, including mobile carriers, are the singular gatekeepers to our online activities and by extension our offline lives. They have unparalleled access to what customers do in cyberspace and the opportunities they have to profit off our personal information are legion. Because consumers are tracked everywhere on the Internet and even across all the devices they own, it makes sense to establish rules that apply to a known entity—the services that allow consumers access to the Internet in the first place.”